The Washington Capitals are playing their home opener Saturday night, and, thanks to Caps social media, we got a glimpse into the once-secret pregame rituals that take place in the hidden hallways of Capital One Arena.
TJ Oshie quarterbacks the play, but it’s Alex Ovechkin’s Chewbacca-style soundtrack that make it *chef’s kiss* perfect.
By Brennin Weiswerda 2 weeks ago
TJ Oshie has a lot of superstitions to remember before and during games. Oshie already does butt slashes with Tom Wilson (and other teammates too while spinning), his puck juggling routine, his long jump into the tunnel, and his bewildering pregame screamfest with Ovi.
Now there may be a new wrinkle on the bench with Nicklas Backstrom.
It’s no secret that hockey players are superstitious. They’re known to repeat specific pregame rituals that will make them feel more comfortable, and maybe more lucky, heading into games.
Last season, the Washington Capitals were very superstitious. Alex Ovechkin needed to bite Andre Burakovsky and Jakub Vrana before every game, Ovechkin needed to have a stool in a specific place for interviews, and someone from the team always needed to take a lap around the ice before road games (titled the “hot lap”).
I think we can all agree that sports are weird and they make us do weird things too. Personally, I was on a diet during the beginning of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year and I’m convinced that’s why the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup. Of course, this means that I need to do the same this year (I would give up two years of my life for Shake Shack right now). I’m going through everything I did and I’m trying to figure out what brought luck to the boys in red.
I am not alone in this endeavor.
Earlier this week, we asked Caps fans what bizarre superstitions they were bringing back from last year for this year’s playoff run. More than 400 people responded in what is our greatest Twitter thread ever.
Hey, Caps fans. What weird superstitions are you bringing back from last year for this year's playoff run?
— RMNB (@russianmachine) April 9, 2019
Will the below superstitions work? Who knows, but if we don’t do them and the Capitals lose? We will only blame ourselves.
By Elyse Bailey 6 months ago
The Stanley Cup Playoffs have begun, but more importantly, NHL players’ Stanley Cup Beards are making their debut on the 2018-19 post-season stage.
Players all across the league will wait until their eventual victory or elimination before shaving a hair off their chinny-chin-chins. It doesn’t matter if their beards are sparse, luscious, or nonexistent–it doesn’t matter how much we want some of them shave it all off and save us the pain, Andre–players around the league believe that not shaving during the playoffs will bring their team luck.
Hockey Hall of Famer and six-time Stanley Cup winner Bryan Trottier narrated the origin story of the playoff beard superstition in a cleverly cartoon-animated video by the NHL. Trottier traces the superstition back to his playoff debut with the New York Islanders.
By Brennin Weiswerda 6 months ago
Hockey players are a superstitious bunch. For years, the superstition has been that it is bad luck to touch the Stanley Cup before you have rightfully won it. That belief has extended to not touching the conference trophy as well, lest teams anger the hockey gods by touching a trophy inferior to Lord Stanley’s.
Hockey fans also believe in the curse. To touch the Stanley Cup is to doom your team to never winning the Cup. This leads to some funny, hover-hand photos with the Cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
On Sunday, TJ Oshie put a dent in believers of the curse by sharing the story of how he touched the Stanley Cup when he was 12 or 13-years-old.
By Elizabeth Kong 7 months ago
Andre Burakovsky scored the game-winning goal in the Capitals’ 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils Friday night.
According to a tweet by the Capitals, the Swedish forward has a bizarre series of pregame superstitions that may be behind the streak.
Back in October, Andre Burakovsky revealed one of his, uh, unconventional hockey superstitions. Before every Capitals game, Burakovsky and Alex Ovechkin take turns biting each other on the arm.
But in a video taken last month before a Capitals’ away game against the Vegas Golden Knights, Ovechkin sunk his teeth into a new victim: Jakub Vrana.
By Elizabeth Kong 9 months ago
Capitals forwards Andre Burakovsky and Alex Ovechkin have a touchy feely relationship, including a warmup tradition that features aggressive collar-grabbing and yelling.
Wednesday, we learned that the two players’ pregame routine gets even more bizarre than this. In an interview with the NHLPA, Burakovsky said that his strangest gameday superstition
is Alex Ovechkin “biting me before every game.”
And if you don’t believe me, Andre wrote it out in his own handwriting.
By Ian Oland 12 months ago
During warmups, Tom Wilson has several traditions. Willy Baby will exchange slashes in the tuchus with TJ Oshie near the benches. The Big Attraction will also bodycheck several of his teammates into the corner boards. The end goal is to get guys loose and ready to play.
Tiny and adorable forward Jakub Vrana has some traditions too that he shares with his former Hershey brethren. Vrana holds hands with Madison Bowey as he comes out on the ice for warmups. And now, thanks to Elizabeth Kong (@of_elk), we’ve learned of another.
Last season, Christian Djoos and Vrana began mimicking the big hit warmup tradition that the bigger boys did on the other side of the rink. The only difference is that it’s like two pieces of computer paper crashing into each other instead of two big slabs of meat.
Alex Ovechkin has a long list of superstitions and pregame routines. From chest bumps, high fives, cup checks, and screaming at TJ Oshie, Ovi’s becoming rookie year Karl Alzner in front of our eyes.
Wednesday, while on the ice for warmups ahead of Game Two, Ovechkin squirted a bottle of gatorade on the ice around the bench. He does this before both home and away games, and Marc-Andre Fleury took special notice to this last night.
By Cara Bahniuk 1 year ago
